The island of Crete is a strange mix. On one hand, it has some of the most fascinating archaeological finds in the world, the island having been home to the Minoan race. On the other, it is the site of some hellish package tour resorts, most of which have sprung up in the last ten to fifteen years.
I first visited Crete almost twenty years ago (around 1981), and although I was only very young at the time, I remembered it fondly as a beautiful and mysterious place. Upon returning in 1998, I was disappointed to find that the island had changed enormously. The coastal resorts of Hersonissos and Malia were now the destinations of countless package tours for tourists from predominantly The Netherlands and Britain respectively. All seemed hell bent on a week of debauched and inebriated entertainment, and the discotheques at Malia pumping out "Come On Eileen" and "The Birdie Song" offered a suitably tawdry backdrop. Hersonissos was a far cry from the sleepy little town that I remembered, it's even home to its very own Hard Rock Cafe now.
Having said that, it only required a short drive inland to escape the tourists and find some relatively unspoiled areas. The central Lasithi plain is visited by relatively few tourists, and has retained something of the traditional way of life. There are windmills pumping water out of the ground to irrigate it, villages seemingly populated by toothless old crones who scowl at passing cars, and dirt tracks that could never support an onslaught of tour buses. It is in this plain that the Diktaian cave, one of the sites claiming to be the birthplace of Zeus, can be found. It is at the top of a steep hill, and for the young or old, donkeys can be hired to take you to the top.
The highlight of Crete is almost certainly the Minoan palace at Knossos, a little way south of Heraklion - the island's capital, and site of its (somewhat overworked) international airport. Knossos is rumoured to be the site of the Minotaur's labyrinth, and parts of the palace have been restored to how it is thought to have been in the time of King Minos. It is a very large archaeological site, and really quite impressive.
The Samarian gorge is also well worth a visit - guided tours run from most tourist resorts, leaving tourists at the top of the gorge, and meeting them at the coast a brief boat ride from the end of the gorge.
It's also worth mentioning that the palm forest at Vai is phenomenally disappointing. While this is Europe's largest palm forest, it is surrounded by barbed wire fences, and certainly not open to the public. The nearby beach is impossibly crowded in the Summer, and the sea in the area is awash with discarded prophylactics, nappies and discarded litter. What was clearly once a beautiful beach has been ruined by indifferent, careless tourists.
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Such a shame when once beautiful places are spoilt by the tourists who in effect went there to enjoy the beauty and the beaches in the first place. Fionaxx
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Advantages: Everything! Beautiful place, beautiful people, amazing food, amazing culture Disadvantages: not as warm as you would think in early spring (march)
sabbene 09.03.2004 (09.03.2004)
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Review of Crete (Greece)
![Crete Greece [DVD]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/87607063.jpg "Crete Greece [DVD]")
![Crete Greece [DVD] [NTSC]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/124360979.jpg "Crete Greece [DVD] [NTSC]")
Jul 2nd, 2000
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